Students raise money for hurricane victims

Thursday

Oct 5, 2017 at 4:49 PMOct 5, 2017 at 4:52 PM

By Lara Bricker

It's been hard for me to watch the news lately. From Hurricane Harvey to Irma and eventually Maria, the devastation caused by Mother Nature is unimaginable and heartbreaking. But within the stories of people who lost everything to the storms is a local story about elementary school students in Exeter doing some good.

It all started at Lincoln Street School after Hurricane Harvey. During a conversation between Principal Drew Bairstow, Assistant Principal Jan Smith, Curriculum Director Julie Lambert and fourth-grade teacher Cyndy Smith, an idea emerged to find a way for students to take part, to help out, during the midst of a terribly tough time.

The project called Heroes for Harvey was a two-pronged initiative. Over 500 students in the school wrote letters to fire stations and police departments in the hardest hit areas around Houston. Students were also encouraged to bring in change for a fund drive, which would benefit the Houston Food Bank, Houston Habitat for Humanity and the Houston SPCA. As a parent of a fifth-grader at the school, I was thrilled to have somewhere to send the spare change that was collecting in a rather disorganized way on my kitchen counter.

Cyndy, a fourth generation Exeter resident who has worked at the school for 26 years, has some family members that work in law enforcement and was eager to take part. Her classroom became the clearinghouse for the project, with students in the class counting the change that came in every day, then announcing the results to the rest of the school during daily announcements over the PA system.

“That is not even amazing. It's amazing, amazing cool,” fourth-grader Eva Bulov said of her turn reading the daily results during announcements. Eva, who collected some change herself from a basket at home, said she was amazed at the amount of money that she counted up. “Oh my God, $110, $120, that's so much money.”

A poster in the entrance area of the school also included written totals for each day and the combined total during the coin drive, which lasted about two weeks.

“They really did get invested in it,” Smith said. “It's been really great.”

I met up with the students in Ms. Smith's class on Sept. 26, one of the hottest days in recent memory, as they prepared to walk to the Exeter Post Office to mail not only the over 500 letters to first responders, but the funds raised in the coin drive. Their grand total was $1735.63.

“I like helping. It was kind of fun and a little hard,” fourth-grader Brannen Chase said of tallying the change. “Because once I had to count 800 pennies.”

Fellow fourth-grader Will Ayers agreed that counting change from all of the classes was a challenge. “Yes, because some of them were like hundreds of pennies and some of them were checks up to $310.”

As it turned out, there was a check for $310 that came from students who organized neighborhood lemonade stands for the cause. Those students included Brodie and Aubrie Proulx, Finn and Devon Coole, Gavin Murdy, and Henry and Charlotte Hyland, and their efforts accounted for almost 20 percent of the total raised.

Student Keagan Donohue also liked counting the money each day and keeping track of how much had been raised. “I hope it goes to animal shelter places,” Keagan said of the money.

Emma Massicotte also had hopes for how the money would help people. “I'm hoping it helps people build their homes back up and also helps with the animals who lost their homes so they can find their owners again,” Emma said.

In addition to counting the coins turned in by the other classrooms, the students in Ms. Smith's class, researched the addresses to send the first responder cards, as well as the organizations designated to receive the funds. Logan Clancy said he liked writing the letters to the police in Houston because he looks up to police.

Peyton Trueman worried about people who might not have enough food. “I felt really bad that they lost their homes and they lost their pets and stuff,” Peyton said. Classmate Kylie Johnson echoed Peyton's thoughts, saying she hoped the money the students raised aided people who needed food and water, as well as a place to stay.

The students kept up a brisk pace from Lincoln Street and along Front Street as they carried their packages to the Post Office. The morning was humid and bordered on oppressive heat, but the kids didn't seem to notice. They all took turns sliding their packages into the mail depository, before chatting with postal employee Shawn Foster and telling him why they were there and who they were helping. In total, the students mailed 27 packages, one for each of the homerooms at the school, to the first responders in the Houston area.

Madeline Rodger, another fourth-grader, said she'd heard a little about what was happening in Houston before the project. Madeline said she was “happy that we cared about them and that they had a good place to be while their homes are getting rebuilt.” Eva Bulov, who walked with Madeline, said she was thinking about how people “right here in Exeter” helped people across the country in Houston as she left the post office.

Griffin Nelson walked back to school with friend Harrison Reader and said he also thought about how the funds would help. “I saw all on the news about Hurricane Harvey. It was pretty horrifying,” Griffin said. “I wanted to help, so this was the perfect opportunity to help.”

And also the perfect opportunity to give some hope to those who need it most.

Lara Bricker is a former staff writer for the Exeter News-Letter, the author of two books of non-fiction and an Exeter resident. She can be reached at larabricker@hotmail.com on Facebook at Lara Bricker Author or on Twitter @larabricker.

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